Titanium Rainbow
by LeviShnee
Summary: Eren Yeager was thoroughly convinced that his mother was crazy. Why else would she open a LGBT and Mental Health center in the middle of conservative, southern America? And why else would she make him work there? He has to admit... they've helped a whole lot of people. He was content until one Wendsday night, when a person with long, black hair was thrown into his life (literally)
1. Seeds

Eren Yeager had many, many opinions.

He thought mayonnaise was disgusting.

He thought that plaid-on-plaid was never a good idea.

He thought that he had the worst job of all time.

He thought that his mother was crazy for running the place that she did.

Carla Yeager ran a help center for LGBT and mentally ill youth, called the Titanium Rainbow. She said it was symbolic or something.

Eren was a receptionist at said help center.

Sure, most of the time his job was fine, great even! He's talked to parents about coping and even talked some kids out of suicide.

However, in a predominantly conservative and christian town bordering on being in "The South" in the U.S., things weren't always that way. He got at least 5 hate calls a day, and protesters were practically stationed outside of their doors, harassing anyone who left or entered, including two of Eren's best friends, Armin and Mikasa.

Armin was a trans guy, and Mikasa was a lesbian. They had both made calls in the past, but after a while of talking, realized that they and Eren were in the same classes at the same school. They've been inseparable ever since.

Speak of the devil, the two walked in while Eren was in the middle of a call.

"No, I don't know how you can persuade him to come in."

He waved to his friends.

"Well, I would just say you're going out for ice cream or something."

They looked at him in confusion.

"What? Who doesn't like ice cream?"

They decided that they didn't want to know.

"Listen, just leave ads for it all over the place. Pester him. If you think he needs to come here, and you know him as well as you think you do, then he will."

Eren hung up.

"Some girl is trying to get her friend to come to our Growth Group."

They nodded in understanding.

Mikasa turned and removed a paper that was taped to Armin's back. It read "God hate geys."

She rolled her eyes. "Now they're not even trying."

Eren sighed. "Actually they are. They've got people out there 16 hours a day. Kids, too. They pounced Marco the other day. Nearly scared his freckles off."

Speak of the devil, Marco, a worker in charge of advertising along with his partner Jean, peeked out from a corner.

"Eren, Jean messed up on the flyers again. He spelled your name wrong."

"TAKE THAT, YEAGERBOMB!" a voice yelled from the back room.

Eren frowned. "Y'know... I don't even care anymore."

Marco smiled. "Armin get taped?"

"Yep."

"I did too, but I think they got ours mixed up. Mine said the T slur!'"

They all laughed. Unlike other people, they weren't super sensitive or anything. They joked about their situation all the time, and spend about 28% of the free time calling the Westboro Baptist Church and pretending to be Satan. They referred to their support groups as "Growth Groups," and had rainbows and other pride flag colors on basically everything in the building, including snack trays, cups, and the envelopes for their paychecks. If someone didn't work there, they were there frequently in the "Chill" room, that had couches and tv with Netflix and a Wii. There was a coffee bar and books.

Basically it was the cool place for all the LGBT and mentally ill kids to hang out, and where you could find them if you happened to be looking.

Eren typed on his keyboard, managing their website's suggestion box. Some of them were just complaints about the protesters, some were legitimate ideas, and the rest were dick jokes made by douchebags from their high school. Mikasa leaned over his shoulder.

"I find the job position requests very interesting. Maybe we should get a barista for the coffee bar. It would make the process go a lot faster."

She smiled at Eren, who reluctantly sent a short email to his mother concerning the idea. Armin was busy fixing some decorations and mustering under his breath about "stupid conservatives" who can't "leave the innocent alone." Marco had found his way back to the small office he shared with Jean.

Eren looked up at his friends.

"You guys better go change into your uniforms and get to work, before my mom gets back from shopping."

They nodded, giving a salute, and ran off to change. Their uniform wasn't as much of a uniform as it was a t-shirt with the company logo on it. They even came in multiple colors. Eren's was green, Mikasa's was red, and Armin had chosen a light blue. Marco had insisted that he and Jean's matched, so they both wore yellow-green.

Mikasa paired her shirt with khaki shorts and her scarf, which was too hot to wear properly in the early fall, was strung through her belt loops. She wore her red running shoes. Armin wore plain blue jeans, as he wasn't one for showy clothes. His shirt fit very loosely, and he had a brown messenger bag packed with books. Eren wore jeans as well, but his were baggy and torn, not on purpose but by fault of his clumsy nature.

Suddenly his mother entered, the door giving a jingle as she stomped up to the front desk, raw egg sliding down her hair. She looked Eren in the eyes and sighed.

"Stupid people egged me. I'm going upstairs to take a shower."

Eren nodded, as his mother trudged up the stairs to they second floor, which the Yeager family lived on. Two more egged employees ran through the door, one of them, a short, bald kid, yelling various profanities over his shoulder. The other, a brunette with a ponytail, was ranting about wasting food.

At the same time, Mikasa and Armin had rounded the corner. Armin yelped in suprise.

"Connie! Sasha! What happened to you?"

Connie huffed. "Stupid bigots egged us! They got Mom Yeager, too."

Mikasa sighed. "Come on to the washroom. Let's get you cleaned up."

They allowed Mikasa to parade them to one of the many unisex bathrooms in the building. Armin took a seat in one of the many beanbag chairs scattered around the center. He had tried to count them all once, to no avail. The center was suffering. This was war. They needed soldiers. He decided to dial up his cousin.

"Hello?"

"Erwin, we need your help."

"Trouble in rainbow town?"

"Very funny. The protesters are getting bolder. They egged three people, Ms. Yeager being one of them."

"Woah."

"Yeah. I was wondering if you had any advice?"

"Mmm... sorry, I've got nothing. Your angry friend punch them in the face yet?"

"No."

"Actually, my friends and I were just talking about TR. Crazy Lady over here wants Napoleon to go to your group. He, of course, refused."

Armin and Erwin never referred to their friends by their real names. Eren was the Angry One, Mikasa was Scarf Girl. There was also "Potato," "Horse Face," "Freckles," and "Aang." Erwin had two friends that he called "Crazy Lady" and "Napoleon Complex," or just "Crazy" and "Napoleon". Sometimes a "Nose" would show up, as well as people he called "Agent Red," "Agent Tongue," "Agent Scruff," and "Agent Spike." The "agents" were collectively referred to as "Napoleon's Army."

They continued their coded conversation.

"So, who got egged?"

"Angry's mom, Potato, and Aang."

"Rough. How are they doing?"

"Angry's mom is showering. Scarf is taking care of Potato and Aang."

"So she's the 'mom friend?'"

"Well, I guess Angry's mom and Scarf are the 'mom squad.'"

"How does Angry feel about that?"

"Terrified."

"Hey, Napoleon is calling me. Mind if we catch up later?"

"Sure!"

"Commander, OUT!"

The call ended. Armin looked up and saw Eren looking at him with the most confused expression ever.

"What?" Armin innocently asked.

Eren got up and walked towards the back. "I honestly don't even wanna know. Mario Kart till Growth Group starts?"

"Of course!"

Eren slammed Bowser into Armin's Toad, securing his victory. Armin gave him a sad look.

"Ereeeeen, you always win against me!"

Eren tossed what little hair he could and raised an eyebrow. "Its not my fault that I'm a Kart Master."

"Mika usually beats you."

"Oh, please, I let her win."

Armin rolled his eyes. "Suuure."

Connie and Sasha had gotten cleaned up and arranged around 20 chairs in a circle for Growth Group, while Ms. Yeager set up a snack table. Mikasa, Jean, and Marco were guarding the door, and making sure that the guests got into the building safely, even if it meant guarding them with platters.

People slowly trickled in, Annie, with rainbow stripes in her blonde hair, Reiner and Berholt, Franz and Hannah, Ymir and Krista and other usuals. Then Eren heard loud voices from the hallway.

"You. Are. Going."

"No. I'm. Not."

"Goooo."

"Noooo."

"Listen, this is what's best for you. These people know what you're going through."

"Shut up."

"Maybe there's someone there like you."

"Um, no."

A tall brunette, hair in a messy ponytail, was literally dragging a short person through the doorway.

The short person looked biologically female, wearing the uniform for St. Genevieve's, a nearby, all-girls, private high school. Their hair was long and raven black, and they were desperately hanging on to a black messenger bag. The brunette literally threw them into the room.

They stood up and dusted themselves off, glaring harshly at the group. The brunette quickly dashed away before her victim could get a word in.

Eren smiled at them, trying to do the usual routine. "Hi! I'm Eren, and welcome to our Growth Group! What's your name, orientation, and pronouns?"

"Levi. Pan. He."

Eren was struggling to keep up his smile.

"So... I'm guessing that your parents aren't very supportive?"

"My parents are dead. I live with my jackass uncle."

Armin piped up from the back. "Um, Levi, I don't mean to interrupt, but...

We don't curse here."

Levi took a seat. "Well, get used to it, fuckers."

Armin walked up to him and smiled. "Hi! I'm Armin! I'm FTM, too!"

Levi scowled. "Well, be fucking glad you pass."

The blond sulked. "I was just gonna offer you an old binder of mine."

Levi brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh... thanks..."

Armin beamed. "I'll bring it in next time you plan on coming here."

"Ah... okay."

Levi had gone from upfront and mouthy to shy and timid in less than a second. He was quiet for the whole meeting.

The group didn't have any important events coming up, so they just talked about their "problems."

Annie talked about how she was living with Reiner, who was her cousin, after getting kicked out of her house. Eren talked about the protesters, and his mother getting egged. Armin talked about his grandfather using the right pronouns, and him accepting LGBT people as a whole.

Eren looked at their newest member.

"What about you, Levi? What's been going on with you?"

Levi looked at his feet.

"I asked my uncle for a haircut yesterday. He said no."

"Man," Connie sighed. "That stinks."

Eren glanced at his watch. "Oh, thank god that the actual support group is over. We can hang out and eat now!"

The teenagers rushed for the snack table, except for Levi. He stayed in his seat, fiddling with a ring on his left middle finger. Eren halted in his tracks and glanced at the small boy.

'Poor kid,' he thought. 'At least he's got good friends looking out for him.'

He smiled and got his own food.

Everyone sat and ate, talking happily and just generally hanging out. Levi, however, found a comfortable place in the left corner and pulled a Stephen King novel out of his bag.

Eren couldn't help but glance at him every few seconds and feel horribly privileged. He was accepted for his bisexuality, Armin was transitioning comfortably, and Mikasa was happy. Their entire group was pretty well off. Protesters lobbing a few eggs was nothing compared to what Levi probably faced every day.

Armin waved a hand in front of his face.

"...to Eren? Earth to Eren?"

He snapped his head up, green eyes darting from Mikasa's face to Armin's.

"Wha...?"

Mikasa rolled her eyes.

"It's your turn, Eren."

"Oh."

He moved his checker piece, only to have it stolen by Armin.

"It's not my fault! Armin is smart! You can't go against him at checkers!"

The blonde looked at him, concerned. "Eren? You've been thinking again, haven't you? What is it?"

Eren shook his head. "Nothing."

"Oi."

He turned around to see Levi looking back at him.

"Why do we stay so late?"

Eren grinned at him. "We wait for the protesters to leave, so we don't get harassed more than we have to."

He jabbed a thumb to his right.

"Connie is our lookout."

Right on cue, Connie turned around and yelled to the group.

"THEY'RE GONE!"

Everyone stood up.

"NO WAIT THERE'S ONE!"

Everyone sat down.

"NEVERMIND. ITS JUST LEVI'S WEIRD FRIEND."

Everyone stood up again.

"Levi's weird friend" busted through the door and grabbed Levi by the arm.

Then she turned to Eren, panting.

"ALMOST LATE FOR HIS CURFEW GOTTA GO BYYYYYE!"

She dragged him out the door.

Armin raised an eyebrow. "Well, she's... interesting."

The patrons trickled out the door, and the employees cleaned up paper plates and ceramic mugs.

Then, they said their goodbyes and left, Eren trudging up the stairs to his room in the attic. He practically jumped out of his clothes into his pajamas. Opening his sketchbook, he began drawing. What he planed on being a sad figure, an unknown person, slowly grew into a female shape, short, with long black hair. A frown graced the figure's face, eyes obscured by hair. Eren sighed, brushing brown strands out of his eyes. He placed his sketchbook on his bedside table and shut out the light. The stars painted on his ceiling glowed in the blackness as he tried to imagine what it would look like if Levi smiled.

Eren rubbed his eyes as he made his journey down a ladder to their kitchen. His mother was happily talking on the phone and flipping pancakes. She turned around and waved to the tired boy who had flopped into his chair. Eren sniffed the breakfast that was set in front of him and smiled. Carla rolled her eyes.

Eren gobbled down the food and grabbed his school bag, brushing crumbs off of his green plaid shirt.

Before he walked on the door, however, his mother stopped him, waving her spatula in disapproval.

"Young man, if you think that I will let you leave the house dressed like that, then you are dead wrong."

He winced. "What is it, mom?"

She grabbed a brown leather jacket and shoved it in his face.

"It's freezing out! I don't want to have to take care of your lazy butt if you get sick."

He reluctantly tugged the leather over his shirt and huffed out a "fine."

His tan hands pushed the back door open as he twirled a mechanical pencil in his left hand.

Sneakers squeaked as he walked to the bus stop that was a block away.

There he met Sasha, who lived down the street. Sasha held out a french fry, which he politely declined.

"Just try it!" she insisted.

He reluctantly ate the fry, then looked at Sasha in shock.

"That's really good! What did you put on it?"

She winked at him. "That's my secret."

Sasha had been anorexic until around a year ago, when she had discovered her passion for cooking through her therapist, who just so happened to be Eren's mom. She came over to help Carla cook dinner almost constantly.

She smiled at him, a silent "thank you" for the compliment.

A yellow school bus pulled up to the curb, Mikasa and Marco waving at them from the windows. They hopped onto the bus, Eren speeding down the aisle to grab a seat next to Mikasa. Sasha took an empty bus seat, her usual spot where she waited for Connie, who was two stops past hers along with Jean and Armin. They all boarded the bus a few minutes later, Jean sitting next to Marco, Connie with Sasha, and Armin with Mikasa and Eren, who always deliberately sat in the last row so that they could fit three people in their seat.

After annoying their bus driver with a very loud rendition of "99 bottles of an age-appropriate non-alchoholic beverage on the wall", the teenagers hopped off the bus and onto the sidewalk. Armin caught sight of someone from across the blacktop. Someone who wasn't supposed to be there, as far as he knew.

"ERWIN!" he shouted, running up to meet his cousin, his friends desperately running to keep up with him.

Erwin smiled upon seeing his cousin. "Armin! I didn't know that this was your school!"

"Yep," he replied. "Oh! Erwin, I want you to meet my friends. They-" he gestured to Mikasa and Eren- "are Scarf and Angry."

The taller blond outstretched his hand to give them a handshake.

"Hello, I'm Erwin! I'm Armin's cousin! I'm here because I'm competing for my school's academic team!"

Armin nodded. "And the St. Genevieve girls will be here, too, right?"

"Yep! We are sister schools, after all! We have one team for both schools."

Eren's head snapped up. "St. Genevieve's?"

Erwin smiled. "That reminds me! My friends are here, too!"

Two people emerged from what was presumably Erwin's car.

"Armin, this is Crazy Lady and Na-"

"LEVI?!" Armin shouted.

The poor guy yelped as Armin ran up to hug him, nearly smothering him in sweater fabric.

"I can't believe you're here! Eren's been-"

"SHUT UP!" Eren yelled. Then he took a few deep breaths, giving him time to recuperate before Levi's crazy friend tackled him.

"Hanji, down," Erwin commanded.

The brunette did as she was told, but not before going on a tangent about Levi and someone named Kenny and how they were both nearly killed or whatever.

"Hanji, nobody wants to hear it," Levi mumbled. "We know how my uncle is."

Eren looked at Levi, wondering how he would look with short hair.

Erwin gave a nervous laugh. "Heh...I didn't know that you guys knew each other."

The short blond looked up at him. "Yeah! I wish I had known that these were your friends! I feel like I already know them!"

Levi rolled his eyes, tossing his hair. "Great. Because that's what I need. More people 'knowing' me."

Erwin winced. "Just ignore him. He's so negative."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not negative. I'm a realist."

"More like a doofus," Hanji muttered, laughing at her own joke as Levi thwacked her shoulder.

Mikasa glanced at Eren, who's face was as red as a strawberry.

Thoughts ran through his head faster than lightning.

'Oh god he's here. He is so tiny! It's kinda cute... No Eren, shut up. Focus. Just... act normal. Act. Normal.'

The black-haired girl hit Eren with her red scarf. The brunet glared at her.

"Miiiikasaaaa!" he whined, rubbing his arm. Armin clutches his sides and laughed, as did Erwin and Hanji. Levi huffed, one side of his mouth lifting slightly.

A man waved at the three private school students from across the parking lot.

"Mr. Smith! Ms. Zoe! Ms. Ackerman! Team meeting!"

Levi winced. "Well, time to go hang out with the bigots. See you later and ... uh... ask your comatose friend if he's okay."

He had been referring to Eren, who had taken to staring into the distance at who-knows-what. The brunet shook his head, snapping himself out of his temporary lapse.

"BYE, GUYS!" he yelled at the leaving private school students.

Armin looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Smitten, are we?"

Eren gasped. "Wha? No... how could you ever!"

"School's starting, lover boy."

"Fuck you, Armin."

Connie squirmed on the bleachers, restless as always.

"Why are they holding an academic team match during school?" he whined.

Marco, ever the optimist, smiled at him. "Well, its probably because nobody was going to any of the after-school matches."

"Gee, I wonder why," Jean huffed, earning his a thwack on the shoulder from his freckled boyfriend.

"Shhhh! Look! Its starting!"

The St. Genevieve and St. Thomas students, five in all, stood in perfect formation, their uniforms pressed to a point where they looked more like statues than humans.

The Maria Public School kids, however, were very different. Sasha was rocking from one foot to another. Armin was chewing on a strand of his hair, a nervous habit. Krista was looking down at her hands and squeezing a stress ball. Annie was twirling a Rubix Cube at light speed, and Franz was biting his thumbnail.

"They're a mess," Mikasa sighed, not wanting to look.

The match began.

A tall man in the middle, whom Eren recognized as the person who called Erwin, Hanji, and Levi over from them earlier, yelled out the questions.

"What is the capitol of Lithuania?"

Erwin buzzed in.

"Erwin Smith!" the announcer yelled.

"Vilnius."

"Correct!"

That was how nearly the whole match went.

"The Road Less Traveled what written by whom?"

Buzz.

"Layla Ackerman!"

Eren saw Levi cringe as he answered.

"Robert Frost."

"Correct!"

"Istanbul."

"Correct!"

"Ahiho Higashima."

"Correct!"

"42."

"Correct!"

So on and so forth.

The Maria team couldn't get a word in, except for Armin, who answered one literary question.

The team sulked in defeat, and it didn't help that one of the girl from St. Genevieve's, Hitch, had stopped by their class to "congratulate" them for their effort.

Sasha spent all of lunch passing out (and eating) cookies that she had made with frowned faces on them.

Eren glanced over at Armin.

"Hey, Einstein. You doin' okay?"

The blond sighed.

"They're just... They're just so smart, and perfect looking, and... way too good."

Mikasa frowned.

"They're jerks. Except Erwin. And Hanji. And maybe Levi. They just think that they're better because they go to a private school."

Eren nodded in agreement.

Krista wiped away an invisible tear as Ymir patted her back. Annie kept twisting her Rubix cube and Franz cried into Hannah's arms.

The rest of the day was spent in mourning for the sacrifice made by the poor academic team. They sulked from class to class, and into the familiar walls of the Titanium Rainbow.

Suddenly Armin's phone buzzed he answered with a timid "Hello?"

A few second of silence.

Then his phone hit the floor.

He shook, looking up to face his friends.

"Levi... is in the hospital."


	2. Saplings

Erwin arrived at the Titanium Rainbow 15 minutes after he had called.

Armin jumped into his car, nearly squashing Hanji, who was crying in the middle back seat. Eren sat on her left, Armin on her right. Mikasa took shotgun.

Erwin turned to Hanji.

"Calm down. I just got another email from the hospital. It's not for the reason you're thinking."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yes really, and I can't believe that you think he'd do that to us. He promised not to."

"Well then," she sniffed, "What was it?"

"Car crash. He's fine. Unconscious, but fine. Kenny however... Well, they're not sure if he'll make it."

Eren gasped. "But if his uncle dies... who will he live with?"

Erwin clenched the steering wheel tighter as they drove. "We don't know."

Silence took over the vehicle, Hanji grasping onto Eren and Armin's hands.

They arrived at Maria Heights Hospital, and they all swore that Erwin was ready to bust down a door.

A nurse with red hair smiled at him. "Are you here to see someone?"

"Layla Ackerman," he panted. Eren looked at him and Hanji (who was crying again) in awe. They really cared about Levi.

"Right this way."

The poor nurse led them down a long hallway and up a set of stairs, to the first door on the left.

"In here."

Levi layed on a hospital bed, hair in a ponytail and a tall nurse monitoring his pulse. Hanji gasped and rushed over to her friend, Erwin following, nearly stepping on her heels. The nurse gave them a routine report.

"She appeared to be unharmed, except for a few minor cuts and bruises. Minor head trauma, no concussion. She may have a headache for a few days. After a routine check, she would be free to leave, but... her uncle passed away three minutes ago. We are waiting to receive word from the courts about who she will live with."

As soon as the nurse left, Hanji burst into tears. Erwin, holding back from joining Hanji in her sobs, turned to Eren and his friends.

"He didn't like his uncle much... but Kenny was all Levi had. His dad left when he was young, and his mother died when he was eight. He lost his two siblings in a school shooting when he was 11."

Mikasa gasped, burying her face in her scarf. Eren got lost in his own mind, trying to imagine life without his mom. Armin muffled his own cries with his hands. Erwin finally broke down and whimpered into Hanji's jacket. Then Hanji looked to them and pulled them all in to a group hug.

They remained in this position for a good hour, and all of their sobs had died down, all of their tears had run out. They stood, silent, until they heard a quiet groan from behind them.

Levi had stirred, his eyes opening slightly.

"Levi!" his two friends yelled, enveloping him in a hug.

"Hey, hey... what happened? Where am I? Why does my head hurt? Where's Kenny?"

"You were in a car crash," a nurse calmly stated, stepping through the door. "You have luckily escaped with little injuries, but your uncle... he has passed on."

Levi looked unimpressed at first, but his hands began to betray him, quivering, as he asked the nurse a question.

"Where do I go now?"

Uncertainty was laced in his words. Eren watched him break, his voice cracking. He just watched someone lose everything.

The nurse smiled at him. "That's actually good news. We looked through your mother's will, and it said that if anything happened to you, you were to go to one of two people. The first listed was your uncle, and the second was your mother's college roommate, whom she seemed to be very close to. We looked her up, and apparently she lives in this city! You unfortunately don't have enough money left behind from your uncle to continue your education at St. Genevieve's, but your new guardian has a son that already attends the nearby public school."

He nodded.

"Who are they? May I... May I have a name?"

"Carla Yeager."

Eren's eyebrows shot up and he gave a yelp.

"That... That's my mom!"

The nurse jumped a bit.

"Wonderful! Then you will all get along?"

Eren nodded.

"We called Ms. Yeager, and she will be here to pick up Layla... and it looks like you, too, mister..."

"Eren."

"Mister Eren, in a few minutes."

She left.

Eren looked to Levi, who had turned away from them and was staring out the window.

"Levi...," Mikasa whispered, "I'm sorry about your uncle."

"He was all I had left of my mother... or so I thought. Maybe there's a bit of her left in your mother, Eren."

Eren looked at his feet. "Maybe... But at least you don't have to go to St. G's."

"And now you get to live at TR," Armin squeaked, "It's like a second home to us already, so hopefully you'll be able to adjust."

Mikasa nodded.

Hanji burst into tears yet again. (How one girl could contain so much liquid, Eren didn't know.)

"Leeeeviiii! We thought maybe you'd... yknow..."

"What?" he yelled. "I promised that I wouldn't! Why would I do that to you?"

The brunette adjusted her glasses and smiled slightly. "You're right. I should have trusted you."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Armin spoke, "but... what are you talking about?"

Erwin let out a breath. "We should tell them, shouldn't we? About how we met Levi?"

Hanji nodded. "I'll do it. That okay with you, Lee?"

"Yeah."

She turned to them.

"When we met Levi... he was trying to jump off the roof at St. Genevieve's."

He huffed. "They made me tell them everything. Of course, I did it... after all, I thought that I would die that day. But after hearing what I had to say, they carried me down the stairs and all the way to Hanji's house. That was the first place I'd ever been where... where I really felt like I belonged. Her family is crazy, but it was them who gave me my name."

Mikasa nodded in understanding, and Eren gulped.

Armin began crying.

"I feel... I feel so horribly selfish. I mean... I have so much. My parents are so accepting and I have so much family and stuff... yet I complain about my 'problems' all the time!"

"Bullshit," Levi grunted. "The extent of the problems that I have do not make yours any less legitimate."

He begrudgingly accepted a hug from the blonde.

"Hello!" Carla greeted as she entered the room.

"Eren? Why are you here? Do I have the wrong room?"

He smiled. "No, mom. 'Layla' is Levi."

She gasped, holding a hand to her mouth.

"Holy sh...sugar. I can't believe that I didn't see it earlier! You look just like Kuchel!"

The boy chuckled under his breath. "Yeah. I get that a lot."

She gave a small "Tch."

"What is it?"

"You need a haircut, young man."

"What?"

Eren laughed along with the others.

Carla stood up tall and twirled her car keys on her finger, giving him a wink.

"C'mon, boys! You need one, too, Eren."

"But moooooom!"

"Don't 'but mom' me!"

Levi stood up, wobbling a bit. Hanji and Erwin held his hands down the stairs while Carla checked him out at the front desk. He walked on his own from then, waving goodbye to his friends as he got into the Yeager's car.

They had been driving in silence for a minute or two until Levi piped up.

"Can I talk to someone real quick?"

Carla sighed. "Where?"

"Take a left.

Now a right.

Right again.

Left."

They pulled up at the cemetery.

Levi got out and walked in, heading down a path that he seemed to know well. Eren and Carla watched from a distance as he approached three gravestones and sat down cross-legged.

"Hi mom. Isabel. Farlan. I know I haven't been coming by lately. Sorry about that. Is Kenny with you now? I hope so.

We won our academic team match again. They're no fun anymore because we always win. I'm living with the Yeagers now. They seem nice, even though I don't know them very well. I get to go get my belongings and then go to their house. I also can't go to St. G's anymore. I know you wanted me to get a private education, mom, but I can't afford it. I'll still do my best. I want to make you proud. I'll come back in a week, I promise. Bye."

He stood up and walked back to Eren and his mother, who was wiping her eyes with her jacket sleeve.

"C'mon, honey," she mumbled, "Let's go get your things."

The others had already arrived when they got to the center, Erwin and Hanji proudly posing in their new employee t-shirts. Levi smiled a bit at their smug expressions. Eren lugged Levi's two bags through the doorways.

"Why do I have to carry these?" he whined.

"Because I said so," his mother replied.

He carried them up the stairs to their former guest room, now Levi's room. The new inhabitant of the room followed him up the stairs.

He opened his bags.

"Wow," Eren marveled. "That's a lot of pink. And skirts."

Levi rolled his eyes. "My uncle's doing. But I have enough money to get some new clothes."

He threw them into a trash can, only to stop and take one out.

"I think I'll keep one. Just for... sentimental value."

"ALRIGHT!" Carla yelled, barging through the door.

"Let's get you a haircut, then we're going shopping!"

Levi sat in a wooden chair in their kitchen/living room while Carla got her hair supplies ready and Eren blockaded the door so Hanji couldn't get through. (She was desperately trying.)

Ms. Yeager started by chopping of his waist-length ponytail. She then lifted he top of his hair up and shaved the rest into an even undercut. While she trimmed the rest up, Eren swept up everything that fell. It wasn't hard to do, seeing as the black stood out against their white tile floor.

"And... done! How does it feel?"

He pondered it for a moment. "Hm... cold. It feels cold."

She laughed and handed him a mirror.

"How does it look?"

His hands brushed through it.

"Fuck."

"LEVI!"

"Sorry. It's amazing, Ms. Yeager."

Eren stopped trying to hold the door closed and Hanji busted in, squealing. She began ruffling Levi's hair furiously.

"Leeeeviiiiii! It's so soft! You look so handsome! I'm so proud!"

"Yeah, yeah, now could you stop touching me?"

"Nope!" she screamed, lifting him bridal style and running down the stairs to show her pride and joy to every employee at the Titanium Rainbow.

Eren ran after her, yelling several things about how insane she was.

When he got down there, he saw Levi, pouting furiously while about seven people ran their hands through his hair.

"Okay guys," Eren commented, "We're about to go shopping, so I'm gonna need him back."

Hanji crawled onto Levi's back and hissed.

"Miiiiine. My baby."

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine. You guys can come too."

It took three cars to carry everyone who tagged along. Levi sat in the backseat of Ms. Yeager's car, wedged between Mikasa, Armin, and all the books that Armin insisted on bringing. Eren had called shotgun, and was now flipping between classic rock stations on the car radio. Marco drove Jean, Annie, Connie, and Sasha. Erwin drove a sulking Hanji, and Ymir and Krista. Berholt and Reiner had opted out of coming, because someone had to be at TR to stop annoying protesters from breaking in.

They all pulled up at the mall and emerged from their vehicles.

"Mall, prepare to be rainbowed," Connie boasted as he put on sunglasses.

"YEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!" Sasha yelled. (Several elderly women stopped to stare.)

Krista latched onto Ymir's back, and Jean and Marco were holding hands.

Armin began walking while reading and ran into a pole. Mikasa adjusted her scarf. Hanji was wearing a t-shirt with Marie Curie on it, and Erwin stood above everyone else. Levi was still in his uniform, and Eren was carrying his mother's purse.

Armin suspiciously handed Levi a blue gift bag.

Overall, they looked odd.

Ms. Yeager rolled her eyes.

"Okay, young people. Eren, Levi, Hanji, and I will be looking for men's clothing that Levi likes, in most likely the smallest size they're gonna carry. Mikasa, Armin, and Erwin will look for things like men's deodorant, combs, razors, et cetera. Mikasa, make sure Armin doesn't run into anything. Ymir, Krista, and Annie, you guys know all the good places to get pride stuff, so scout out some stuff there for him. Jean, Marco, Connie, and Sasha, you can get us a cake! We'll all meet at the coffee shop at 6:30. GO!"

They scattered.

Mikasa held onto Armin's sweater, steering him in between people while he read a Ray Bradbury book. Erwin was their scout, because he could see over the crowds.

Sasha spent 20 minutes sniffing every cake in the bakery and determining ultimate freshness and flavor. Jean, Marco, and Connie just kind of watched, but even they gained a lot of attention due to Jean and Marco having their hands grasped together. A middle-aged mother frowned at them, shielding her daughter's eyes. Connie gave them a swift flash of his middle finger.

Levi ended up having to request smaller sizes from the back of stores because he didn't fit into anything else. They also got him a few pairs of new shoes. He offered to pay, but Carla insisted that he use those few hundred dollars he had for food and "fun." She made Eren pay for half, and Hanji bought the rest.

Ymir, Krista, and Annie entered a tiny corner store with no window space. Most customers just thought it was a maintenance closet, but they knew better. It was probably the second gayest place in the whole city, the first being Titanium Rainbow. Pride flags of every kind adorned the walls and bins were filled with stuff that people thought only existed on Tumblr. They greeted the owner of the store and got down to business.

The group met at their rendezvous point at 6:30, Sasha carrying a cake box that she was way too overprotective of. Poor Eren had been forced by his mother to carry all of Levi's new clothes, except the ones he was wearing. Hanji was proud of the outfit she had picked out for him, a black Guns n Roses t-shirt, jeans, and black converse. Erwin smiled down at him and the rest smothered him with compliments.

They made their way back to their cars, but when they arrived at Titanium Rainbow, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

There had only been three protesters when they left.

Now there were thirty, and they looked mad.

When they stepped out of their cars, they were met with yelling.

Erwin scanned the crowd and gasped.

"Guys... they're all St. Genevieve's and St. Thomas students. Some teachers, too."

Hitch, who was carrying a large sign that read "the gays are demons", screamed at them.

"LOOK WHAT THEY DID! THEY TURNED LAYLA INTO A LESBIAN!"

Eren yelled back. "YOU SHUT YOUR FUC-"

His mother covered his mouth.

"Eren," she hissed, "yelling back won't do any good."

Erwin walked towards the protesters. Armin almost ran out to stop him, but Hanji held him back.

"He knows what he's doing."

The tall blonde smiled at the protesters.

"Hello. I don't know if you're aware, but this is not a government-funded institution. It is private property. A family lives here. It is their house. They own it, and pay the mortgage. So either you leave peacefully, or I have the right to perform a citizen's arrest."

They didn't stop. Instead, Erwin got a facefull of tomato. He trudged back to the group, as did Jean, who had done a perimeter check.

"No use," Jean sighed. "They've got the back door blocked, too."

Erwin shrugged in defeat, wiping red juices off of his face. "That wasn't even thrown by a student. That was my chemistry teacher."

Marco took out his phone. "One moment! I have an idea."

He called someone.

"Hello, dad? We have a problem..."

Twenty minutes of waiting in their cars and eating cake later, three polices vehicles arrived in their parking lot. A tall, freckled man stepped out of one, winking at Marco before turning on an electronic megaphone and spinning to face the protesters.

"YOU ARE UNDER ARREST IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!"

The students and teachers scattered, hopping in their cars and driving away, fast. The man walked over to them.

"Sorry I took so long."

Marco ran up to hug him.

"Thanks, dad. You're a life saver."

"No problem, Marco. Let's get the Yeagers inside."

Berholt and Reiner met them in the doorway.

"We're sorry, guys," Berholt stammered. "We couldn't do anything."

"It is not your fault," Mikasa stated.

She was the only one who had come in with them, and it was just to make sure that Eren was safe. They were all tired.

"Levi!" Eren shouted. "Let's get all your new stuff put up!"

Levi nodded and followed him upstairs.

"So you like classic rock?" Eren asked as he put up an absurd about of 70s and 80s band t-shirts in the closet.

Levi nodded.

"Levi? What's wrong."

He gritted his teeth. "Oh, I dunno, maybe I HAVE NO FAMILY, MY UNCLE DIED TODAY, IF A DISASTER HAPPENS I'M USUALLY THERE, I JUST WATCED MY CLASSMATES AND FRIENDS TURN ON ME, MY HEAD IS KILLING ME, I'M LIVING WITH PEOPLE I'VE ONLY MET ONCE BEFORE, YOU'VE BEEN DRAGGING ME AROUND THE MALL LIKE A STUFFED ANIMAL, AND AS MUCH AS I'M GRATEFUL FOR YOU AND YOUR MOM 'HELPING' ME, YOU NEVER CONSIDERED THE FACT THAT I NEED AN HOUR OR SO ALONE AFTER BEING IN A FUCKING CAR CRASH?!"

Eren sat down.

"Levi... I'm sorry. I had no idea that... I've never lost anyone like that before. I don't know how people handle it. My mom can get pretty caught up in things... sorry about her. She honestly is trying to help."

The black-haired boy sat next to him.

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have yelled. I... I'm just being a bitch."

Green eyes looked at him.

"Hey, don't feel bad. I was the one being insensitive. You just lost a family member. I should be more considerate. I'll talk to my mom and see if you can skip school tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Tan arms enveloped Levi in a hug, which he returned. They remained like that until they heard the clock in the living room chime the hour. Eren pulled back.

"I'm going to talk to my mom. You... get a good night's sleep."

"No way," he chuckled. "I'm not sleeping until this mess of shopping bags is cleaned up."

"Good night, Levi."

"Good night, Eren."


	3. Stems

Levi's eyes fluttered open.

He was in an unfamiliar place, wearing unfamiliar clothes.

His groggy mind strained to recall where he was and what had happened before. He was... at Eren's house... and...

"Kenny..." he whispered.

He realized that he was sitting up, leaning against a wall, surrounded by shopping bags. Half of them were empty, their contents unloaded into drawers and a closet. The other half were overflowing with various items, and he looked down to see that he was holding a trans pride wallet that Ymir had bought for him. He stood up and looked into a mirror that hung over a set of dresser drawers.

His hair was sticking in many different directions, some of the ends curling outwards. He ran a hand through it. It was so... short. He smiled.

He felt kind of... manly.

Then he noticed that his chest was sore.

'Oh, right,' he thought, 'the binder that Armin gave me. I better take it off."

He removed his t-shirt and the nude-colored binder.

His hand moved in a flourish as he tossed the shirt into the dirty clothes basket that sat in his open closet. The binder, however, he folded and placed into one of his drawers. He shrugged on a sports bra and another t-shirt - one with the Boston logo on it - and got to work.

Levi spent the following hour organizing his new possessions and hanging a few decorations.

He stood back and looked at his job well done.

The room was spotless. The full-size bed in the center had black sheets that were free of wrinkles, and the four pillows at the head were smooth and symmetrical. The dresser drawers were full of folded and pressed undergarments, pants, ties, shorts, swim clothes, and sleepwear. The closet was were he kept all of his shirts, and the black suit that Ms. Yeager has insisted that he needed. A trans pride flag hung over his bed. The bedside table had one drawer where he kept miscellaneous items. Under that was a bin full of art and school supplies. His messenger bag, jackets, and scarfs hung on a wall rack. His shoes lined the bottom of his closet.

He walked to the bathroom and examined it. The counter was spotless, and his toiletries were organized into cabinets. Everything was in order. He withdrew to his room and sat in the bay window, clutching a white throw pillow. Gazing out the window, he looked at the sky.

"It's grey today," he whispered to himself.

His eyes shifted towards the clock on his wall.

"It's 11:30..."

'Eren's at school,' he thought, 'his friends, too. I wonder what Hanji and Erwin are doing at their schools... Especially after what happened last night.'

He watched as protesters once again came back to their usual spots to harass anyone that tried to enter the building. Since school was in session, it was mostly what Levi assumed were stay-at-home moms with nothing better to do and small children who had no idea what was going on. He secretly hoped that those children grew up to be LGBT just to torture their parents.

He stood up, walking over to the door, down the hallway, and into the open area that served as the Yeagers' living room/ kitchen. It was empty, the only sounds coming from the tv, which was turned to a news channel, and a hairless cat that was rubbing itself on Levi's ankle. He walked over to the table to be greeted with a plate of pancakes and a note. He read it silently.

 _Levi,_

 _I'm sorry for rushing you around last night. I guess I just like to spoil kids who aren't mine! (Don't tell Eren that.) These pancakes are yours, but please heat them up. Cold pancakes aren't good. I'll be downstairs all day if you need me, but I know that you probably want some time to yourself. We have cable and Netflix, so feel free to watch anything you want. Buttercream will keep you company. (That's the cat.) She looks a little scary, but she's sweet, I promise._

 _Love, Your Godmother,_

 _Carla Yeager_

He smiled. Carla was a nice person. The cat sat on a shelf and watched as Levi heated up the pancakes and ate in silence. He then turned on the TV and fiddled with buttons and knobs until he figured out how it worked, and turned on TLC because they were playing I Am Jazz, as he'd only seen two episodes before because of his transphobic uncle. As the episode played in the background, he walked to the bookshelf. It was absolutely full of LGBT literature and fantasy novels.

"Hm..." he hummed. "Needs more Stephen King."

He walked back to his room and grabbed his copy of The Shining before settling on the couch, Buttercream in his lap, and getting lost in the story.

When he finished the last page of the paperback, it was 3:00. He blinked a few times, as his eyes had gotten dry from staring at the pages. As he zoned back into reality, he noticed that Buttercream was in the same place she had been before.

"Three and a half hours," he whispered to the cat. "You sure are dedicated."

She mewled in response. Levi scratched behind her ear and she leaned into his hand.

"Good kitty."

He stood up and turned off the TV. They were playing some pageant show now that he had no interest in. He decided to open the door and walk down the stairs into the lobby. Ms. Yeager was busily typing away on her computer. They were the only people there.

Levi coughed loudly, making her jump.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No, no, it's fine!" she insisted, "Here, sit down." She gestured to an office chair next to her own.

"I could use a little help, if you don't mind."

"No, I don't."

"Reorganize my emails please? Eren forgot to do it yesterday."

"Okay."

He spent time filing patient forms, suggestions, and several, several complaints. Reading through the complaints was the best, honestly. It baffled him just how stupid and ignorant these people were. Sometimes he found himself laughing. (Only on the inside, of course.)

"Ms. Yeager," he reported , "look at this. It says that we're agents of the Illuminati rushing in a New World Order."

She laughed.

"Yes, and Eren is the antiChrist!"

He smiled and got back to work, sorting the emails quicker thanks to his knowledge of keyboard shortcuts.

At 4:00, the door jingled as Eren and Armin entered.

"Hi, mom!" Eren cheered, then he stopped in his tracks. "Oh...hello, Levi. You doin' okay?"

He nodded, standing up. "Yes. Well, Ms. Yeager, I'm finished here. I'll be in-"

"He'll be in the chill room with me!" Armin shouted, grabbing the poor boy by the shirt sleeve and dragging him down the hallway.

Levi, after being let go, turned to face the blond.

"What the fuck, Armin?"

The other boy just shrugged. "Sorry for tugging you along, but we need to talk."

"About what?"

"About safety."

"...What?"

Armin pointed a finger at him. "Safety! You need to be safe! Sit down at the coffee bar and I'll explain."

Levi did as he was told.

Armin stood behind the bar, pacing back and forth.

"You see, Levi, not everything at Maria High is sunshine and rainbows. It's a public school. There are still people who don't accept LGBT. I have formed a list of students that you need to stay away from. I may just be a sophomore, but I know a lot of people thanks to my student council work. Even more importantly, do not use the men's restrooms. You will get beat up. Use the gender-neutral restrooms. The transphobes don't dare go near those. Don't be too forward. You'll die. Most of the teachers are pretty cool, but the juniors' biology and technology teachers are very much against it. They will call you out, label you a sinner, and use your birth name, but that's just two classes. One of them just lasts one semester. You can handle it. Can you drive?"

"Yes. I don't have a car, but I do have my license."

"Okay, good. I've heard horror stories about LGBT kids who got their cars vandalized." Armin was pacing at a quick speed. He was genuinely worried. Levi stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Armin," he whispered softly. "I'm going to be okay. I can handle myself. Do you worry like this about everyone?"

He nodded. "Yeah... Eren says that it's annoying, but I can't tell you how many times I've had to pull him away from fights."

"That... sounds like Eren."

"You have no idea."

He gave the blond a slight smile, which was returned at full force.

Mikasa stepped in the doorway.

"Levi's friends are here," she stated, "and I'm not sure how much longer the weird one will be able to stand not seeing him before she spontaneously combusts."

As soon as Levi stepped into the lobby, he was greeted with a crushing hug. This one, however, wasn't from Hanji, who was being restrained by Erwin. He was being crushed by Petra.

"Lay-I mean, Levi! Why didn't you tell us that you were trans?"

Mike, who was behind her, frowned, his arms crossed.

"Did you not trust us?"

He shook his head. "No... It's not that, I just... I meant to, but..."

Hanji shook herself free from Erwin's grasp and rushed at Levi, smashing him with a football tackle.

"Leeeeeviii! You look so HANDSOME!"

"Ge offa me," he mumbled, his words muffled by Hanji's Titanium Rainbow employee t-shirt.

"I go-a tak to Petra."

She released her grasp on him and gave a quick "Sorry!" before squealing and bombarding Eren's mom with compliments on her outfit, which she modeled for the overexcited teen.

Levi turned to his other friends. Erd was tapping his foot. Auruo looked mad. Gunther looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Listen, guys... I'm sorry that I didn't come out to you. I didn't know your values, how you would react, or if you would tell anyone. So, no, I didn't trust you. I'm sorry. I should have had more faith in you."

Petra captured him in another hug, as he squirmed in desperation for escape.

"Don't worry, Levi!" she laughed. "We still love you!"

"Greeeat," he whined sarcastically.

He shifted his glance at Eren, whom he realized had been staring at him.

Eren quickly turned his glance away.

Petra finally backed off, and the whole group looked him up and down.

Auruo hummed, seeming unsure of what to think. Mike got a little closer, bent down, and sniffed Levi's shoulder.

"You're comfortable," he noted, "before, you always smelled tense."

"That's creepy as fuck, Mike," the very comfortable Levi complained.

"YOU'RE CREEPY AS FUCK, LEVI!" Hanji yelled from across the lobby.

Levi could only bring himself to sigh and bury his face in his hands.

"Please remind me why I am friends with you."

Hanji gave an enthusiastic "CUZ I'M TOO HOT!"

To which Erwin replied "HOT DAMN."

Levi felt the sudden compelling urge to bang his head against a wall for 10 hours straight until he passed out. Eren, luckily, saved him from doing so by suggesting that they all go and watch something on Netflix, as all of the other employees had arrived and literally nobody wanted to do work.

A few moments later, they all sat on the couches and beanbag chairs in the chill room, popcorn machine running, as Eren scrolled through TV shows and movies.

"Hey," he called to everyone else, "How far are you guys in Doctor Who?"

He was met with some mixed replies of seasons 2-6, except for Levi.

He mumbled, "Never seen it."

"YOU'VE NEVER SEEN DOCTOR WHO?" Eren yelled, jumping onto the coffee table.

"It's decided then! We are binge-watching Doctor Who, right this minute!"

He started the first episode and flopped onto the couch, squeezing in between Levi and Armin.

It was around halfway through the episode when Levi realized that Eren had put an arm around him.

'Stupid guy,' he thought, 'Probably does that to everyone, thinking he'll get a kiss or something. Well, he's not getting anything from me.'

But his body didn't listen to him. It never did.

He felt himself leaning into the brunet, resting his head on Eren's shoulder.

He felt the short gasp that the boy gave much more than he heard it.

"Eren?" Armin whispered. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no... it's all... everything's... good. It's all good."

Hanji, who was sitting on Levi's other side, looked at them, raising an eyebrow. Levi gave her his signature "shut the fuck up" glare. She shrugged, playing innocent, and leaned back into the couch.

After the group had finished five episodes, it was 7:45 and most of them had to get home because of relatives, extracurriculars, the list goes on. Soon the crown had died down to Armin, who was spending the night, Sasha, who was helping with dinner, and Eren, Carla, and Levi, who obviously lived there.

Sasha dashed up to the kitchen, yelling something about using the deep fryer. Armin picked up an overnight bag and Eren literally carried him up the stairs to his room.

Levi turned to Carla.

"Ms. Yeager... I have a question."

She turned to him, her mom senses kicking in, concern in her eyes.

"Yes? What is it?"

"You knew my mom, right?"

She nodded. "Kuchel was my best friend. She was like a sister to me. I loved her."

"Did you... did you know my father?"

She sighed. "I should have known you'd ask that eventually."

Sitting down and gesturing for Levi to do the same, she began.

"Your father was the opposite of you and your mother. Tall, blond hair, brown eyes, and he was an absolute douchebag. He broke up with you mother no less than six times, and every time she took him back. We were in our third year of college when I found out that he had been hitting her. I begged him to stop. He denied it. I begged her to break up with him for good. She didn't. She said that she loved him. I don't know if they were ever married, only that we lost contact after college. You father cut her off from everyone. Around that time I met someone. My husband. He left me after Eren was born, and it looks like your father did something similar. I saw your father again a few years ago, kissing a waitress behind a bar. He recognized me... we talked. He said that... he said some vulgar things. About your mother. About you. About me. Even about whatever kids he presumed I had. I hate that man."

Levi lowered his head, smiling. "Honestly... I don't know what I was expecting. I guess I got my hopes up. If I'm being totally honest, I have imagined all these heroic things about my dad... I don't know how to... I just... I should shut up now."

Carla wrapped him in a hug, burying him in her shawl.

"Levi, I'm so, so, sorry. I can't change who your father was, or what he did. I can't change what happened to your mother, or your little brother and sister. I can't change what happened to Kenny. But... I can change what happens to you. I want to make your life better."

He didn't say anything. He just hugged her back.

They remained in that form until someone came in through the front door, a worried looking mother who had a small child at her feet.

Levi waved to Carla and went upstairs.

He was passing through the hallway until he was under a ladder that lead to the attic. He heard voices from the top, until the deeper one dominated.

"Levi! Come up with us!"

Eren was looking down at him from the attic bedroom, Armin visible just over his shoulder.

"C'mon!"

"Really?" he asked, unsure about the whole situation.

"Yeah! Go get in your pajamas or something and come up here! We don't bite!"

Levi went back to his room and changed into Batman pajama pants and a black t-shirt. (Don't judge.)

He climbed the ladder, entering Eren Land.

He cringed at the sight.

Basically, Eren's room looked like an art studio threw up. Drawing were tacked to every wall. Levi couldn't even see the color of the wall paint. The quilt on his bed looked hand-sewn, made of t-shirts. The floor, desk, chair, and bedside table were all covered in paint splatters. Paper lanterns lit the room. Armin and Eren sat in beanbag chairs, doing something on their phones.

Eren wore no shirt at all and Spider-Man pants. Armin had on white pajama pants, and a blue t-shirt with the academic team logo on it. His chest bulged slightly from lack of binder, as did Levi's. Eren waved, too busy shoving M&Ms down his throat to talk. Armin patted the beanbag to his left.

"Levi! Sit! We're playing Trivia Crack!"

"Mfp wphin," Eren mumbled, mouth full of chocolate.

Armin rolled his eyes. "Swallow before you speak, Eren."

"I'm losing," he replied, fully articulate this time.

Levi sat down on the chair and looked at the brown-haired boy.

"It's trivia. Of course you're losing."

"Wanna play?" the blond offered.

Levi shook his head. "No, sorry. I can't. All I have is this."

He held up a black flip-phone.

"No service either, until Ms. Yeager takes it to the shop. She's going to add it to her plan."

Eren frowned. "I think she might love you more than me, Levi. I have to pay for my own plan."

"Yes," Levi sighed, "because I'm sooooo lovable. Just look at me. Regular Disney prince."

"Oh, you might just be more lovable than you think, Levi," Armin said, waggling his eyebrows in Eren's direction. The blond received a sketchbook to the face.

"Ereeeeeen! Ouch! I have sensitive facial features!"

Eren scoffed.

"That's because all of your nutrients go to your brain."

Armin cocked his head.

"Where do your nutrients go?" he asked innocently. "I bet it's your d-"

"SHUT UP, ARMIN."

"Diaphragm. Below your lungs."

"GODDAMMIT."

Levi huffed.

"You are so immature."

"Back to the subject at hand," Armin sighed. "You can still play. Eren can let you use his iPad."

"No, no," Levi insisted, "I'm fine. Just watching you two is exhausting enough."

The blond tucked his phone in his overnight bag.

"I'm bored of winning anyway," he said with a shrug.

Eren looked at him angrily.

"Armin."

"Yes?" he replied, batting his eyelashes.

"Fuck you."

Armin stood up and smiled, grabbing a sleeping bag from his bag and rolling it out.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired!" he exclaimed.

"Armin," Eren begged, grabbing the boy by his ankles. "Don't leave me alone with Levi! He looks like a serial killer!"

"You look dumb, yet I'm still here," Levi stated.

"LEVI!" he whined. "WHY DO ALL OF YOU HATE ME?"

"I don't hate you," Armin said, shrugging. "Not that much at least."

Levi's rolled his eyes.

"Let's just get to bed before you lose it."

Eren sat in the darkness, gazing at Levi's sleeping form. The short haircut fit him, bangs falling over his perfect face. His soft sighs as he breathed were adorable, and the way his frame slightly rose up and down... gorgeous.

At least, that's how he saw it through the wonderful filter called love-vision.

No one, not even Levi Ackerman can sleep that gracefully.

"How long do you plan to watch him sleep?"

Eren's head snapped up, and he directed his view to Armin, who was sitting up and, as usual, reading a ginormous book that you couldn't pay Eren to touch.

"Armin?" he whispered. "What are you doing up at two in the morning?"

"I could ask you the same question," he countered, clicking off his flashlight.

"You've been staring at him for hours now. When do you plan to sleep?"

Eren looked away.

"I was not staring. I just... I happened to be looking in that direction."

"I don't buy it."

"I have chronic insomnia!"

"No, you don't."

"Armin," he whisper-yelled. "Please don't tell him about this."

The blond grinned. "Well... I guess I could be merciful. On one condition."

Eren was instantly worried. Armin's "conditions" were never good.

"What is it this time?"

"Ask him out by the end of the month, or I'll tell him about everything."


End file.
